March 12, 2008

Servant Leader

Posted in Uncategorized at 8:11 pm by ninjabish

Do these two words belong together? How would you explain what a servant leader looks like?

I broke this down into defining what a ‘servant’ is and what a ‘leader’ is. I think a servant is someone who looks for ways to undergo the act of denying oneself in order to bestow God’s love on that person. This can happen through speech, action, or even by omission. Was Christ’s servant nature based on what others were telling him to do? Most certainly this was not the case, but rather Jesus sought ways to bless others.

Leading is about influence (to quote John Maxwell). Influencing others comes from not only telling but living/doing. In fact influencing often comes by physical example. I tracked with Ken Blanchard in Lead Like Jesus when he defined a leader as “anyone seeking to influence the thinking, behavior, or development of people in the personal or professional lives.” While I have so much room for growth in this area, I have enjoyed some relationships where I was able to influence another person. It began with a relationship and involves intentional commitment to helping someone become more like Jesus Christ.

A different spin on the ideas of servant and leader was given by McManus – “Servanthood is about character, and leadership is about role.” What truth; that servanthood is more about the heart and leadership involves more of the practice. This idea helps explain why some people will never be great leaders – which the Bible doesn’t command of all Christians – yet all people can be servants, which is commanded over and over again in God’s Word.

This question particularly stumped me in my homework this evening: What’s the goal of a servant leader? [what do you think?]